The presentations are ready, the stage is set and the response is already overwhelming! Professionals from Mumbai and all across the country are excited about AITF, the focused technology conference that takes place in Mumbai tomorrow.
Instituted by Industry Portal and B2B services company AnimationXpress.com, and presented by technology major Intel, the 1st AITF (Animation & Interactive Technology Forum) will be held tomorrow (28 September 2007) from 3.30 pm at Raheja Club, Andheri (W) in Mumbai. (Limited Seats, Entry by invitation only)
The forum strives to be a knowledge sharing and networking platform for Studio Heads, Technology Evangelists, Film Makers, Technical Artists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs and Investors with the 1st edition focusing on how technology can strengthen workflow pipelines and business models in Animation, VFX & Gaming.
The celebrated line up of presenters and speakers includes Internationally renowned professionals like CG Feature Pipeline expert Marlon Mantgomery, Indian VFX Ambassador to Hollywood N Madhusudhanan, Technology Guru Krishna Prasad, Graphiti COO Munjal Shroff, Intel Indiaâ€?s (Director – SMG Group) Rajesh Gupta, Trine Game Studios Ovidiu Lupas & Kewaad Abdool, Rhythm & Hues India Technology Head Rajesh Pai, ettaminA studios Creative Director Nikhil Nagda, Anibrain Digitalâ€?s Jesh Krishna Murthy, FX Graphics Vivek Malhotra, MEL’s Jai Natarajan, Jay Kushal Exports Kushal Shah and AnimationXpress.com’s Anand Gurnani.
Time to talk technology
The organizing team at AnimationXpress.com is all gung ho about the event and preparations are on in full swing. “The support and encouragement that we have recieved from the Industry for AITF has been amazing, and equally wonderful has been Intel, our presenting sponsor,” shared Co Founder Anand Gurnani.
“Both Animation & Gaming are taking off in India like never before and with 70+ animated features being announced, and so many new gaming initiatives launched, there is a need to discuss critical issues such as Feature Film Pipelines and Game development technology in a dedicated manner. Equally important is discussing the approach to technology for studios in a growth phase as thatâ€?s what we are going through as an industry. AITF is our sincere effort at searching for solutions by collaborating with each other and I am confident that we will find the solutions through this and many other collaborative Industry efforts in the future,” he added.
Besides the perspectives and case studies, AITF shall also include a panel discussion by experts and the AnimationXpress.com Technology Wheel of Honor which will recognize outstanding technological contribution in the field of Animation, VFX & Gaming.
Sharing his excitement for AITF, MELâ€?s Jai Natarajan shared, “I think this event is long overdue. I am sure that the audience will walk away with a new found respect for technology professionals who have the greatest impact on studiosâ€? bottom lines. Its very important to have a peer group and platform that discusses this very important topic and three cheers to AnimationXpress.com for coming up with AITF and to Intel for presenting it”
CG Feature Pipelines
Marlon Montgomery, Technology Evangelist, CEO & Co Founder, Mind The Gap, Inc. shall be giving the Special Address on �Developing Pipelines & Workflows for CG feature films’. Montgomery commented on his address, �I will be speaking about why investing in infrastructure, pipelines, and workflow is important. I will touch on the benefits, including how much time and money that can be saved, as well as the things to consider when designing a pipeline and workflow.�
He informed, �I have worked on films, VFX, and commercials of all sizes and budgets. And I have found that it is just as important for the small studios as the large ones to follow these best practices.
Indian studios are known to be able to produce a lot with a little. But with best practices in place, it can take these studios to the next level in quality, amount of work produced, and the amount of time spent. Not only can the work be of higher quality and produced in record times, it can also help the morale of the artists reducing stress, frustration, and wasted time.�
As on the general topic of the Forum, he said, �I believe that technology has created a new medium (CG) for artists. But it is now the art that must drive this technology. We should not make films based on specific technology itself, but create technology to tell a specific vision, story, or style. Most important, technology should allow the artists to innovate and create what they imagine, rather than be a hindrance to the artists.�
Want Hollywood projects? Here�s what Hollywood wants
Besides IP creation, yet another aspiration that a majority of Indian studios and artists share is that of working on Hollywood projects. Addressing that topic will be N Madhusudhanan who will share what Hollywood based studios expect from an Indian studio in terms of artistic and production experience as well as in terms of technology.
“We need an event focused on technology and I am very pos
itive about AITF. India is the global IT destination and technology hub and our Animation industry can definitely gain an edge and several competitive advantages by exploring and leveraging our technical strengths,” shared the stalwart.
Embracing a technology sensibility
Munjal Shroff, COO of Graphiti Multimedia will focus on growth phase for studios and how they need to embrace a technology sensibilitythat enables them to stay robust and keep scaling up.
“I will explain the issue giving the example the Graphiti journey, since we have experienced the journey from starting as a small time boutique shop to a full fledged animation studio now. I shall also discuss about the technology challenges that we have been dealing with all along the journey in regards with the approach, sourcing, perspective. We shall share our experiences along the way and hopefully people who are also experiencing the same journey would identify with it. Hopefully the presentation might assist them to identify their growth path. I wish this facilitates them to also draw lessons from the mistakes as well as learn from the right decisions from our experience.”
Ingenious programming and coding input targeted at achieving desired production output makes a lot of room for programmers and coding experts to participate in Animation & Gaming. Discussing and sharing some insights into the advantages of open source and proprietary software will be Rhythm & Hues India�s Technology Head Rajesh Pai.
Technology from the artists perspective
Nikhil Nagda, Creative Director, ettaminA studios, who shall give a visually appealing presentation on “Art driving Technology’ shared, “I shall be speaking more on how technology has driven art. It has been very helpful for the artists making their work little easier and also in completing the work in lesser time. My presentation shall have more of visuals. Since a long time artists have been working separately and the technology people separately. The trend is changing and they need to come together more often. The observation and experience has been that they enjoy working with the modern advanced technology.”
Big Rush for AITF (Entry is by invitation only)
The enthusiasm that the panelists and speakers are displaying for AITF makes it that much more exciting an event and more than 90% of the total 175 available seats have already been pre registered and there is a big rush for the remaining few seats.
The Program Line Up
3.30 pm: Registration
4.30 pm: Welcome
Anand Gurnani, CoFounder, AnimationXpress.com
4.45 pm: Keynote
Rajesh Gupta, Director – SMG Group, Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd.
5.15 pm: Perspectives
Tech Perspective: Gearing up for Hollywood Projects
N Madhusudhanan, Chairman, FICCI VEC
Boutique to big time studio: Growing with Technology
Munjal Shroff, Director & COO, Graphiti Multimedia
6.00 pm: High Tea
6.30 pm: Case Studies
Using Open Source & Developing Proprietary Software
Rajesh Pai, Technology Head, Rhythm & Hues India
Game Technology Simplified
Ovidiu Lupas, Lead Programmer, Trine Studios
Kevaad Abdool, Lead Designer & Q.A, Trine Studios
Art driving Technology
Amit Anand, CEO, ettaminA Studios
Nikhil Nagda, Creative Director, ettaminA studios
8:00 pm: Special Address
Developing Pipelines & Workflows for CG feature films
Marlon Mantgomery, Technology Evangelist, CEO & Co Founder, Mind The Gap, Inc.
8.45 pm: AnimationXpress.com Technology Honors
9:20 pm: Panel Discussion and Interaction with Audience
Critical issues in technology decisions
– Rajesh Gupta, Director, SMG Group, Intel India Technology Pvt ltd.
– KP – Technology Evangelist
– Jesh Krishna Murthy – Anibrain Digital
– Vivek Malhotra, FX Graphics
– Jai Natarajan, Production Consultant, MEL
– Anand Gurnani, AnimationXpress.com
10:00 pm : Networking Dinner & Cocktails
